IWA Climate Smart Utilities Recognition Programme

The IWA Climate Smart Utilities Recognition Programme offers an outstanding opportunity to self-reflect on the utility’s Climate Smart journey, present actions to an international audience, and share aspirations to achieve a climate smart water sector.

The 2023 edition has a special focus on low- and middle-income countries and seeks to raise awareness of the steps being taken by water and sanitation utilities operating in challenging conditions to respond to climate change. This initiative seeks to recognise ambitious and innovative utilities in low- and middle-income countries that are leading the way towards a low carbon water and sanitation sector, embracing the change needed to adapt to and mitigate climate change while raising awareness among citizens and industries, engaging regulators, and inspiring other utilities to take action.

Climate Smart Utilities are water, sanitation, and urban drainage service providers that are improving their climate resilience by adapting to a changing climate while contributing to a significant and sustainable reduction of carbon emissions. The initiative is structured around four components:

• Component 1: Communities of Practice (CoP) around adaptation and mitigation to climate change to support bridging science and practice and trigger the necessary cultural shifts and actions
• Component 2: A web platform to support utilities sharing resources to support information sharing
• Component 3: A Utility leaders peer-to-peer exchange platform to drive decision making towards Climate Smart
• Component 4: A Recognition Programme to increase awareness and set an inspiration to progress on the Climate Smart Utility

The recognition programme is built on the IWA Climate Smart Utilities Vision and is articulated around three interconnected pillars:

• Adaptation: Improving resilience to adapt to climate change
• Mitigation: Assessing and aiming to reduce GHG emissions
• Leadership: Leading and inspiring others to take Climate Smart action for a water-wise future.

Objectives

The main goals of the programme are to:

• Increase awareness, by inviting utilities and IWA members to share the best practices through Climate Smart Stories, organising webinars, sharing and publishing relevant publications and research, and through a web platform with resources.
• Inspire action, by encouraging utilities to improve their climate resilience and adaptation, and by sharing Climate Smart narratives, steps and best practices, as presented in the Application Guidance. IWA also offers a peer-to-peer exchange platform through the Community of Practice meetings and website.
• Celebrate the work in progress: the recognition programme is an excellent way to gain recognition and share best practices towards becoming a Climate Smart player in the water sector. This also contributes to increasing awareness and inspire action.

Why apply?

• The programme is an excellent way to gain recognition and share best practices towards becoming a Climate Smart player in the water sector. Joining the recognition programme is also an effective way to facilitate knowledge exchange and international collaboration with other utilities.
• Selected utilities will be recognised in a formal event during the IWA Water and Development Congress & Exhibition (WDC&E), in Kigali, Rwanda, 10-14 December 2023. These successful utilities will also receive a recognition certificate. The five most inspiring narratives will be selected for a presentation during the WDC&E. The selection will be based on a comprehensive assessment performed by an independent jury. IWA will cover the travel costs (air/ground transportation and accommodation) for one representative for each selected utility to present at the WDC&E.

Target Audience

• The 2023 edition of the Recognition Programme is targeted towards water, sanitation, and urban drainage utilities in low- and middle-income countries (L-MIC).
• When different parts of the water system are managed by various utilities or municipal agencies in a metropolitan area, these can either:
  • Apply as a group, with a lead utility collecting contributions from other relevant utilities and agencies as co-applicants; or
  • Apply as individual utilities, ignoring the sections not relevant to them.

Who can apply?

• The urban utility is the primary applicant. In case several utilities (or government agencies) cover the urban water cycle within an urban area, it is encouraged that one utility applies as the lead applicant with others as co-applicants. However, different utilities of a metropolitan area can also apply individually.
• Other urban stakeholders, covering other parts of the water cycle, urban planning, energy, waste, may be associated with the application as co-applicants.

For more information, visit International Water Association.